UNS 90LA kitchen reef for my #Return2Reefing

[croctopus]

Hello all - my name is AJ and I am a lifelong aquarium hobby enthusiast with most of my experience in freshwater setups. I used to keep a SW nano reef in high school (which I spent all of my lifeguarding money to keep and maintain) and now that I am in my 30s and finally own my own apartment, I am ready to jump back into the reef game at this more stable point in my life. The hobby has changed substantially over the past 20 years that I have been on SW hiatus so I tried to learn from the best setups and tutorials on here, BRS, and YouTube to get this right from the start. That said, I've already made some mistakes and mis-matches in my equipment selection so now that it is all delivered, so I need to iron out some of the creases before I start filling, cycling, and stocking the tank.

Any and all advice, pointers, pro tips, best practices, lessons learned are welcomed by this rusty reefer!!!!!

• Tank: UNS 90LA Dual AIO
  • Stats
    • Length: 35.43"
    • Width: 11.81"
    • Depth: 11.81"
    • Glass thickness: 8MM
    • Volume: 21 Gallons
  • Lid: UNS Lid (probably have to replace the lid since I can't mount the lights with this as is)
  • Other: UNS flow intake guard, VCA Flow Kit
• Lighting: I have a few things to work with - I was hoping to mount the blade across the two metal mounts but this might not work out
  • AI Prime Sol w/ metal tank mount and diffuser (came with a craigslist FW set up)
  • AI Prime 16HD Reef w/ metal tank mount and diffuser (new)
  • AI Blade Coralgrow 30" w/ mounting brackets for the metal mount (new)
• Pump: AI Axis 40
• Wavemaker / Powerhead: AI Nero 3
• Heater: Hygger submersible Aquarium Heater (150w)
• Protein Skimmer: UNS mini drop in skimmer
• ATO: where am I gonna put this?? you can see the two I bought (one is for a FW tank) in the background of the picture
  • Auqa Gadget 5 Gallon Hydrofill Reservoir - Innovative Marine
  • Osmolator 3 Nano Auto Top Off - Tunze
• RO System: 4 Stage Value Plus 75GPD RO/DI System - Bulk Reef Supply

So basically I need to figure out what I'm going to do with the lid and lights, make sure this is a suitable spot for the aquarium (do I need a tray underneath? its quartz countertop), and then get working on the hardscape. I have had bad hitchhiker experiences so I want to make a shelf rock hardscape with minimal live rock additions if any, I'm willing to wait for the cycle.

Stocking? I do not have the experience and skill needed for the SPS aquarium of my dreams, although I would like to eventually get there one day. I am hoping to get either a single clownfish or pair of clownfish at a minimum for fish. Given that this is only 20 gallons, how many fish can this thing really handle? Maybe also a firefish or goby/shrimp combo?

For corals, I would eventually like to try keeping SPS but I know I have a long road ahead of learning how to manage water quality, master the ATO, lighting, pumps, etc. So the beginning will be softies, LPS, zoos, etc.

Any and all advice, pointers, pro tips, best practices, lessons learned are welcomed by this rusty reefer!!!!!

 

[cdemoss01]

Your cat is adorable. Following

 

[Tahoe61]

Sweet looking tank!

You have a ton of light for that tank. There should be no problem growing sps.
I don't like glass lids because they prevent good gas exchange and there by lower pH. Typically they're used to assist in preventing excessive evaporation, but you have a good ATO so that shouldn't be a concern. Lastly they do make mounting certain lighting types more difficult.

Two clowns will own that tank, as they mature the will bully any introductions including inverts, choose wisely. I would do 1 clown and the shrimp/ goby combo.

I don't use live rock because of a history of nightmare hitchhikers. To cycle my tanks I use Microbactor7 and Ammonium Chloride. My tanks cycle right around the 3 week mark. I do not light the tank until live stock goes in.

Honestly you have a decent foundation so you should think of adding some easier cheap sps in a month or two.

Welcome AJ

 

[croctopus]

Thanks guys - is the tank too small for a single maroon clown do we think? Or is ocellaris as large as we can go?

 

[Tahoe61]

Too small for a Maroon. My Maroon was over 6 inches. A Naked or Skunk will not get too large.

 

[Gumbies R Us]

Skip the maroon, get a smaller species of clowns (picasso and ocellaris are good options). Also, I love your cat!

 

[croctopus]

Small update - Hit a snag with my hardscape orders and my RODI system doesn’t fit anywhere in my apartment :( - going on a business trip to DC right now but will have this sorted when I get back.

also got an MDF board to put under the aquarium which was a SOLID suggestion from the community here at R2R.

"cable management" is already a problem looking for a solution.

Since the cat is popular, I will also introduce her best friend and mentor, BC, who appreciates the boxes everything was shipped in

 

[croctopus]

Question: How will I know that this won't destroy my quartz countertop?

alrighty... hardscape arrived (thanks bulk reef supply for great products and great customer service for the one that broke!) but I have a question about the composite shim and my quartz countertop. I only need one shim on one side to completely level the tank.

How will I know? One pressure point feels str8 up dangerous.

[obligatory Whitney Houston because I just got back from DC world pride - happy summer y'all]

 

[croctopus]

Hardscape

 

[TheWB]

Looks like you are off to a great start. I like what you've done so far. Following along.

 

[croctopus]

Figuring out all this equipment was not easy. I wish this aquarium was just a bit wider, for this reason, I can't say I recommend this beautiful aquarium shape to others for this purpose. I feel like the challenges of lighting, limited sump space, high surface area exposure for evaporation, placement of the Nero 3 are just a few of the "dang this thing is too skinny" moments I've had so far and we are only on Day 2 of water.

Also, no amount of supercomputing infrastructure or theatrical lighting experience can prepare you to organize with these cables lightly draped across each other working around glass and saltwater. I still have to figure out how to organize the AI light cables but for now the others are tied up. I will definitely have to build some sort of wall cabinet that hides the spaghetti when I can be sure this thing is set up correctly.

The only thing I haven't figured out yet is the RODI unit, because I haven't made time to figure out what piece I need to buy to adapt the kit to my shower. I'm sure there's an easy way but after so many hours (days) (weeks) of fiddling with all these high-end components - that I just don't have the energy to deal with yet another "set it up right or waste your money when you break it" situations that I know all too well by now.

So I live on the beach and bought saltwater to get the tank filled. I added Dr Tims for cycling and some fish food. The LFS people here geeked out when I asked if they recommend fishless cycling or not and acted like I was some sort of depraved psycho for even asking. I thought sacrificing a damsel to the reef gods to bless a new tank with good fortune was the norm like, not that many years ago? I'm not *that* old.

Last pic and I'll turn the lights back off. See you in a few weeks, ladies and gentlemen.

 

[Steven Garland]

I would suggest using a HMS mount to mount the Primes and clean up the appearence of the tank.

Otherwise looks amazing,off to a great start. Dude to the tank size it definitely opens you up to good fish options. A pair of designer Clown's and maybe a Green Banded Goby or a trio of Trimma gobies would be pretty cool.

 

[SixlineRyan]

Sweet cats and sweet build! Following along

 

[parclife]

Looking good! Enjoying it?

 

[croctopus]

This is going really well!!! I’m past the ugly phase (copepods FTW), first fish and corals are doing well, only running the long coral grow light for now, and battling hair algae. Once I get my algae problem cleaned up a bit then I’ll post pics. I didn’t like how skinny the tank was at first but now with fish in it I can see how large this tank is with lots of space for swimming. The single ocellaris clown and royal gramma seem very happy and are fun to watch and feed. No bullying at all.

 

[croctopus]

To tide us over- introducing Pierrot the wild caught clown

 

[tazjunky]

Hi, looking at getting this tank over here in the uk, are you using the filter sock with adapter in chamber ? Do you happen to know the measurements of the adapter at all?

 

[kwang0429]

I love your setup, I have the same tank, but I realized it's really hard to stablized the water level on the side to be leveled with tank after media chamber, protein skimmer are added, have you encountered the similar issue? thanks

 

[croctopus]

We’re back, ladies and gentleman. Learn my lesson and NEVER put a tank on a quartz countertop

 

[Ross Petersen]

How's the tank coming along? Thinking of this setup as well - but the light situation is a bit perplexing. Might look to mound some lights from the ceiling... which is new to me.